Virgin Media Business to build London-wide public sector network

Virgin Media Business is to create a dedicated London-wide public sector network after winning a contract from the London Grid for Learning (LGfL) to run a dedicated network into all schools in the capital.

The company will take over the contract from Synetrix, and will increase the scope of the network to offer it to any public sector authority in the capital, including hospitals, police forces and councils.

This will give the institutions access to a network with more bandwidth and increased scalability, and the ability to exploit economies of scale when purchasing software and services, the firm said.

Virgin Media Business managing director Mark Heraghty told V3.co.uk that winning the contract was "very important" in cementing the firm's position as the number-two provider to local authorities.

"This contract has the potential to be one of our biggest as it's so strategic due to the reach and access it will give us by being in the London area and rolling out to up to 3,000 school sites," he said.

"The investment will help us improve our network in the capital, and we have priced this service to the LGfL by factoring in future business that we think we will win because of this rollout."

LGfL chief executive Brian Durrant explained that using a public sector network provides a significant financial advantage in the cost of purchasing the network access from Virgin Media Business and in buying IT services.